Crimping machine



Oca. 28 i924.

G. E. BULL.

VCRIMPING MAUHINE Filed Dec. 4B4 1922 2 Sheets-Sheer i INVENTOR G. E.BULL CRIMPING MACHINE Filed Dec. 4, 1922 2 Sheets-Shout 2 Patented Get.28, 1924 'ffl r I INI GECRGE E. BULL, OF I-ONESSEIBL PENNSYLVANIA,ASSIGNOB T0 PITTSBURGH STEEL COMPANY, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ACORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

CRIMPING MACHINE.

Application filed December 4, 1922.

yTo all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE E. BULL, a citizen of the United States, andresident of Monessen, in the county of Westmoreland and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in CrimpingMachines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a` full, clear,and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to crimping mechanism for forming crimps in wire orother forms of metal, and such mechanism is particularly well adaptedfor forming crimps in the stay-wires of a fabric composed of strand andstay-wires welded, or otherwise secured, at their points ofintersection, Where such fabric is to be employed in connection withplaster or stucco work as a reinforcement, the crimps acting to spacethe fabric from the framework so that when the 5 plaster or stucco isapplied it will completely envelopthe fabric. n j Y Theobject o f myinvention is to provide a machine by which such crimps may be formed inthe stay-wire of such a fabric without distorting the fabric, as byforming wavy irregularities along its edges, due to the taking up of thewire of the stays in forming the crimps.

To these ends my invention consists, generally stated, in first forminga crimp at a point intermediate the ends of the staywire, and thensuccessively forming crimps in both directions from said first crimp tothe ends of the wire.

In the accompanying drawing, Fig. l is a side elevation partly insection, of a machine for forming fabric of strand and staywireselectrically welded at their points of intersection, and showing myinvention applied thereto; Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan view of thecrimping mechanism; Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail of a pair of thecrimping dies with the wire in position for crimping; Fig. L1 shows thedies closed; Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional detail of the crimping diesand the cam-mechanism for operating same; and Fig. 6 shows a portion ofthe fabric after the crimps have been formed in the stay-wires thereof.

In the drawings, I have illustrated a machine for forming a fabriccomposed of strand and stay-wires electrically Welded at their points ofintersection, said machine being known as the Perry machine illus-Serial No. 604,809.

trated and described in Letters Patent ofthe United States, No. 813,823,February 27, 1906, but as said machine is merely used for illustrativepurposes it has not been deemed 'necessary to illustrate the saine indetail but 'nism into holders 9 and are-picked out of said holders bylingers l0 and lowered into position to be engaged by the movable dies4. Transformers 11 are provided and electrical connections for weldingthe wires electrically at the points of intersection when the weldingdies are brought into engagement with each other.

The fabric composed of the stay-wires 8 and strand-wires l2, so formed,is engaged by the guiding and straightening sheaves 13 mounted on theshaft 14, there being one shea-ve for each strand-wire, intermittentmovement being imparted to said sheaves by the ratchet and pawl 15 and16.

In the rear of the sheaves 13, and below the same, is located myimproved mechanism for crimping the stay-wires 8. Adjusting screws 19engage the stationary dies 17 for adjusting same.

Movable female dies 20 are adapted to cooperate with the stationary dies17, and said movable dies are mounted to move in guides 21. Each movabledie 2O has the idle roller 22 mounted at its outer end, and each of saidrollers is engaged by a disc 23 provided with the cam 24 mounted on theshaft 25.

' The cam-discs 23 are secured to the heads `26 said lcam-disc rotatesthe movable die is ranged, 4as indicated in VlFig "5, that saidcam-discs will act successively on their corresponding dies for thepurpose more fully "hereinafter set `forth.

to the bundling-roll 35.

lIn the operation of the crimping apparatus, the fabric as it is formedis fed intermittently, v'and the feed` is so arranged `that thestay-'wires 8 come into position yto be crimped at each movement of thefabric, so

that the crimping takes place at the same time that the stay-wire isbeing welded to the strand-wires. Vhen a stay-wire comes `in positionbetween the dies i7 and 20, the

central cam-disc 23a, as shown in Fig. 5, has its camiface 24 just inposition to vengage the idle-roller 22 of the movable die, and asjforcedrinwardly and in conjunction with the Vdie 17 forms a crimp 8a inthe stay-wire .lust previous to the disengagement ofthe camsface of the'cam-disc 23a from the roller 22,-the-two cam-discs one on eacli'side'ofsaid central cam-disc come into vplay and `crimpsare ormed'inthestay-wire. lThis action proceeds in connection with the othercam-discs which operate in succession outwardly until all of thecam-discs have formed their respective crimps in the staywire. In thismanner provision is made for forming the crimps in the stay-wire fromthe central crimp outwardly in succession, thereby preventingthedistortion ofthe fabric vby drawing in the outside strand-wires in sucha way as to form a wavy line 'along the outer edges ofv thefabric,'which'would be the result if all thecrimps were formedsimultaneously.

VVha-t I claim is:

l. In mechanism for `forming crimps in a wire or other shape, thecombination of a plurality ofsets of cooperating dies, means foroperating one set of dies intermediate the ends of thewire, and means"for operating the remaining sets of dies successively on ueach side ofsaid iirst set.

2. In mechanism yor'forming crimps in a wire or other'shape, thecombination 'of a plurality of sets of cooperating dies, cams adapted toengage themovable members 'of said dies, the` cam of one of theintermediate diesarranged'to operate lirst, and the remaining cams ateach Vside of said `firstnamed cam being arranged to engage their e diessuccessively. y

In testimony 'whereof :[,lthe saidGEoRGn E. BULL, have hereuntosetmyhand.

' YGEORGE BULL.

